SR 06:208 - Laserfiche WebLink

The California Department of Fish and Game has identified purple needle grass, a native species found within the Planning Area, as a Special Status Plant Community. The Department also considers the following plant species, known to occur in or near the Planrting Area as Sensitive Plant Species: San Joaqrtin saltbrush, Diablo helianthella, Congdon's tarplant, and a few others. Bmshland. These consist of chaparral and scrub vegetation growing in patches on the sides and crests of ridges and near the bottoms of ravines and creeks. Common shrubs found in these areas include coyote brush, CaliforrUa toyon, bush monkey flower, poison oak, California sagebrush, California buckwheat, silver bush lupine, and coffee berry. Lower profile plants - purple needlegrass, brome grasses, annual fescues, and hairy coyote mint - sprout among the shrubs. More brushland plants are indigenous to CaliforrUa than are grassland-area. The Planning Area does not contain any areas of predominant brushland that are not subsumed within another ecosystem such as woodland or grassland. Woodland. Oak woodland covers nearly the entire upper half of the ridges and extends along stream channels and into the lower slope of grassland areas. These are visible from many parts of PIeasanton. Trees in woodland areas are predominandy oaks, including coast live oak, valley oak, black oak, and blue oak. Scattered among the oaks, CaliforrUa laurel, big-leaf maple, and CaliforrUa buckeye commonly grow. Other shrubs, herbs, and grasses also thrive in woodland areas. On steep, north- facing slopes herbaceous ground cover under tree canopies and never exposed to sunlight include miner's lettuce, common chickweed, a variety of ferns, and California poIypody. Transitions between the edges of woodlands and grasslands in the Planrting Area contain highly variable climax woodlands' of blue oak, valley oak, coast live oak, and California buckeye intermixed with non-native and native annual grassland. These areas of mixed grasslands and woodlands contain important habitat for both woodland and grassland animals, including insect species. Most mixed ecosystems found in PIeasanton tend to be oak savannah. In contrast to a woodland, which has a closed canopy, a savanna canopy ranges from about 10 to 50 percent. Sycamore trees also grow within some savannah areas in Pleasanton, although sycamores tend to be more abundant in riparian woodland areas. Wedand. These are found in and along the edges of lakes (lacustrine): arroyos and canals (riparian),' as well as springs and other ephemeral water sources. WetIands are those areas that are inundated by water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Typical wetland 5 If an ecosystem is not disturbed, climax vegetation is the final stage of mature and stable vegetation that the ecosystem will achieve under prevailing envirorunental conditions over a long period of time. 6 Lacustrine means related to lakes. Lacustrine plants are those that grow or live on or at the edge of a lake. 7 Riparian means related to watercourses such as streams, arroyos, and canals. Riparian plants are those that grow or live in or at the edge of a watercourse. CAn OS Element, CC 08Z9lJ(" dean Vll-7 Ciry Council 8/29/2006